What can you do to prevent teen suicide?

Learn to recognize the warning signs and how to answer a young person's call for help.     

What is a gap and how do I fill it?

Planning educational activities for continuing nursing education(CNE) is focused on developing learning experiences that "fill the gap" between where the learner is and where he or she needs to be. This column explores needs assessment and gap analysis processes that guide planning, implementation, and evaluation of CNE activities.     

What do you do at work? Profession building and doing nursing

BACKGROUND: The dominant image of nursing promotes individualized care based on emotional intimacy as the basis of its distinctive service contribution. However, the empirical basis for nursing's claims about its function is weak. AIM: The aim of this paper is to review a decade of observational studies as a starting point for understanding the actual content of nursing work. METHODS: The paper draws on a previously published interpretative review of field studies of nursing work published in the English language between 1993 and 2003. RESULTS: Eight bundles of activity are identified and described. These indicate that contrary to the profession's claims, nursing work is not centred exclusively on individuals but is orientated to the effective functioning of healthcare systems. CONCLUSIONS: The bundles of activity identified by the review provide the starting point for a research-based understanding of nursing work. This might enable a closer coupling of professional identities with service realities.     

What can lasers really do?

Summary. Lasers were for many years used in all manner of applications without any clear advantage over alternative modalities. However, certain areas have emerged in which lasers have a unique role. Wherever there is a wavelength at which a target absorbs preferentially, lasers can be used with a selective action. Examples of this are in the treatment of port wine stains and stones. Lasers also allow miniaturization in endoscopic applications. In tumour necrosis the deep penetration of certain laser wavelengths result in larger volumes of tissue irradiation. Finally, in tissue diagnosis interstitial laser probes may discriminate tumour from benign tissue and viable from non-viable tissue.